Philipp Henkel is a German composer, curator, and multimedia artist based in Hannover. In his music, gestural instability and extended expressionism transform the subjective listening experience. His compositions and multimedia works explore the implications of technology and societal failure(s) through a research-led approach.
His music has been performed by ensembles including Trio Recherche, Quasar, Jack Quartet, Musikfabrik, etc across Europe, Asia and North America. Recent premieres have taken place at the GAIDA Festival in Vilnius, the Diversonics Festival in Taipei, the IRCAM Forum, Unheard Festival Hongkong, as well as Monopol Berlin.
In addition to his artistic activities, Philipp is also active as a speaker at various congresses. He has given multiple lectures at the ZKM and at the Csound conference in Cagli, Italy. His activities as a producer and sound engineer are evident on several recordings and publications.
Philipp completed his studies in composition at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover with Prof. Ming Tsao and Prof. Gordon Williamson. During this time, he was a two-time recipient of the Deutschlandstipendium and participated in masterclasses with Rebecca Saunders, Johannes Schölhorn, Chaya Czernowin, Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Gottfired Michael König, Fabien Levy, Matthias Spahlinger, Dieter Mack, Sven-David Sandström and Manos Tsangaris, amongst others. Philipp was involved in university politics throughout his studies, first through the Student Parliament and, later, through the AStA of the HMTMH, as well as in the examination board for composition. As a student representative, he helped to initiate the network of the North German student councils, as well as the nationwide association of student councils at German music universities (STUM).
Education
2022 MM Composition Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover
2019 BM Composition Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover
Acknowledgements and Fellowships
2025 Composition Prize for Composition of the State of Lower Saxony, Germany
2023 Composition Prize for Innovative Composition of the State of Lower Saxony, Germany
2023 Composer in Residence, Neue Musik Zentrale Essen (Society for New Music Ruhr e.V.)
2022 Working Scholarship, Neustart Kultur
2018 LINK Masters Fellowship for Panopticon (AI Surveillance Installation)
2016-18 Germany Scholarship (HMTMH)
Invited Lectures (Selection)
2025 Implementing realtime fluid simulation via compute shaders for sound spatialisation, IRCAM FORUM Taipei
2019 Possibilities of sound-synthesis based on generative adversarial networks, ZKM
2019 Implementing „Arcade“ by the German composer Günther Steinke into CSOUND, International Csound Conference Cagli, IT
2017 Sonification and and Fields of Engagement, ZKM
Commissions and Additional Curation Projects
2025-26 Body Count
2025 Signal to Noise, Programming for Revolver, Taipei
2025 GRID_unknown, Programming for Revolver, Taipei
2025 Off_Grid, concert Tour with Chi-Him Chik, Jiawen Wang
2024 Pro Defunctis, concert Tour with Ekemeles, Ensemble Aventure and Composers Slide Quartet
2023-25 Radiant Matter, Interdisciplinary concert, workshops and exhibitions, Ensemble Radiant8
2023 Vanishing Gradient v.1 for ensemble Radiant8
2023 Gradients, Multimedia Concert for the NDR + Musik21 Niedersachsen, Ensemble Quarks
2023 Multimedia Installation: Grid 001, Grid 002, Grid 003, Essen
2022 Pour passer la melancolie: concert tour and ensemble piece for Radiant8
2022 Disrupted Chronologies, Curation for Trio Klangspektrum with neuMERZ
2022 Kopfgeräusche. Curation with Rachel C. Walker, interdisciplinary project tour
2022 Shell Shock, multimedia composition
2018-19 HANNOVER2081, Soundwalk installation surrounding the street scene in Hannover
Selected Concerts
2025 GRID, Lacking Sound Fest | Taipei
2025 GRID, Diversonics Festival | Taipei
2025 Body Count, Unheard Festival | Hongkong
2025 GRID, Hörbar | Hamburg
2025 GRID, Monopol | Berlin
2024 Terrain Vagues, Lisboa Incomum, Lisbon
2024 GRID001-004, Rampe, Hannover
2024 GRID001-004, GAIDA Festival, Vilnius
2023 Radiant Matter No.2 "Matter and Memory", Vanishing Gradiant, Kunststation Sankt-Peter, Cologne
2023 Rundlauf, grid001-002, rabbit hole theater, Essen
2023 O rosa Bella, Ryoguku Monten Hall, Tokyo
2022 Pour passer la melancolie, mouvement. Heimathafen Neukölln, Berlin
2021 Torso, Le Vivier, Montreal
2017 gleichschaltung, Off Boarders Festival, Thesaloniki
Selected Exhibitions
2026 Sound of Cicada, Gallery Kanon, Tokyo
2025 GRID001, Salon des Amateurs | Düsseldorf
2024 Terrain Vagues / blühende Landschaften, Lisboa Incomum
2024 Wo ist Afrika? Ogbu Oja "The Flute Player, Linden Museum, Stuttgart
2023 O rosa bella, 21st Century Art Museum, Kanazawa
2022 Disrupted Chronologies, WERKRAUM, Göttingen
2022 Shell Shock, TAK, Berlin
2022 Shell Shock, OSCO, Hannover
2022 Shell Shock, Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart
2021 Panopticon, Galerie Bohai, Hannover
2017 gleichschaltung, Sprengel Museum, Hannover
Selected publications
2023 Study of Obfuscation (the analysis of the female representation in composition data sets) with Maryam Mehraban, Research Catalogue
2019 International Csound Conference Cagli
2019 Possibilities of an AI based Sound Synthesis, ZKM
2019 Hannover2081, neuMERZ
2018 Csound Floss Manual
2017 Sonification and movement, ZKM